Pacquiao/Cotto

Forgot to publish this one. Duh.

Discombobulated thoughts on last night's main event. No comment on the undercards for now.

In no particular order:

1. Manny has nothing left to prove. His detractors can no longer cite the DLH and Hatton matchups as examples of cherry-picking. Manny fought a high-class, talented, smart, and hard-hitting welterweight, he came out on top, and he made it look easy.

2. I would be amiss if I did not give Cotto the respect he deserves. He's great is his own right. I think many people saw this as his chance to make a comeback after the Margarito hand wrap debacle. Cotto was the bigger and supposedly stronger fighter, but once again, Pacquiao's speed was too much for him. I'm anxious to see what Cotto does next.

3. Cotto showed tremendous class, fierce determination, and a huge heart. He handled the loss with grace, giving Pacquiao his due. He gave the fight his all, even after it became obvious in the later rounds that his was a lost cause. Even Manny acknowledged it was not an easy fight.

4. Manny Pacquiao has cemented his place in boxing history as a legend, and what's more, he's a phenomenon with the skills to back up his reputation. He proved that he has the speed, power, and smarts to beat the best of them. What's more, he showed us that he also has a solid chin. Some critics said that Pacquiao had heretofore not demonstrated any ability to take hits, especially from a heavy-handed opponent. Manny proved them wrong by absorbing a fair number of Cotto's blows, especially in the first, second, and front half of the third rounds. Cotto hits hard; many thought that, being the bigger man, he would be the more powerful puncher. Manny proved that he was able to withstand whatever Cotto dished out and still emerge strong.

5. As Emanuel Steward said, "[Manny Pacquiao] is a machine!" His conditioning and stamina saw him through the later rounds. He punches extremely hard for his size. He was (and has been since the start of his career) able to move up in weight class like it didn't even matter. He also handled his win with humility and showed respect for Cotto by acknowledging his strength.

6. One of Pacquiao's biggest advantages is his ability to make use of weird angles. He is able to deliver punches that Cotto never even saw coming. He threw some right hands from positions that looked to me like they should have severely compromised his balance, but even so, he managed to make these shots count.

7. Pacquiao was very cagey about a possible matchup with Mayweather. He said he would leave it up to his promoters. Freddie Roach unashamedly said, "I want Mayweather!", so there is obviously interest from Pacquaio's camp.

8. Roach and Pacquiao's entourage did pretty much all of the trash-talking for this match. Manny unleashed his skills in the ring to prove them right (aside from Roach's joking prediction of a first-round KO).

9. The knockdowns: they speak for themselves. Cotto was the bigger man. Enough said.

10. The twelfth round stoppage by Kenny Bayless seemed to be awkwardly timed. Before rounds ten, eleven, and twelve, Cotto's corner kept asking him if he had "one more, just one more" left in him. Cotto's father was in favor of stopping the bout, and his wife even left the arena after the ninth round, taking their son with her. Supposedly she couldn't bear to watch Cotto sustain any more severe punishment, and did not want her son to witness it either. The ring doctor okayed continuation after the eleventh round, and Cotto went on basically just to prove a point. Stoppage came a little late, in my opinion. The referee's job sometimes comes down to protecting the fighter from himself, which Bayless did, but I think he let Miguel prove his point for just a little too long. That's always such a tough call, though, so I can't really fault Bayless.

11. Major props to Freddie Roach. Once again, he's proven himself to be an excellent trainer. The Pacquiao/Roach partnership has been mutually beneficial and is one of the reasons for Pacquiao's success. Roach took Pac's raw talent, intelligence, and rampant work ethic and sculpted them into a champion. Questions were raised about the relative youth and inexperience of Cotto's trainer, Joe Santiago, especially about his right and ability to call a halt to the fight is necessary, but I'm not sure if Cotto's choice of trainer had much of an effect on the fight's outcome at all.